Wednesday, April 21, 2010

4/21: The Rundown

Durham Bulls 11, Charlotte Knights 0Box | RecapNotes: Durham is on a five game winning streak and have won the games by a 53 to 12 margin. They sit at 10-3... Aneury Rodriguez dominated in his AAA debut, tossing 7 shutout innings. He struck out 6, allowed 4 hits, and walked only 1... Dale Thayer and Richard De Los Santos each pitched a scoreless inning... Dan Johnson hit his 6th homerun of the season... Alvin Colina and Ryan Shealy also homered... Joe Dillon went 3-5...The Leftovers:Desmond Jennings had the night off, but the Durham offense is rolling anyway, averaging over 10 runs a game the past five games... If Aneury Rodriguez pitches anywhere near this well his next few starts, I don't see how the Rays could send him back to AA...

Montgomery Biscuits 7, Chattanooga Lookouts 5Box | RecapNotes: Montgomery improved to 7-5... Rayner Oliveros lasted only 3.2 innings in the spot start, surrendering 4 runs. Darin Downs pitched the next 4.2 innings, allowing an unearned run. He got the win, striking out 5 and walking none along the way. Matt Gorgen allowed a hit and a walk but struck out 2 in 1.1 innings for the save... Chris De La Cruz went 4-5 including two doubles... Craig Albernaz picked up 2 RBIs... Cody Cipriano walked twice, stole 2 bases, and scored four times...The Leftovers: I guess the Rays are set on Darin Downs being a reliever, because he obviously could've stepped into the starting role today. My guess is that Aneury Rodriguez sticks with Durham and Alex Cobb takes over this starting spot when he's healthy...Charlotte Stone Crabs 7, Fort Myeyrs Miracle 6(10 innings)Box | RecapNotes: Charlotte improved to 6-4... Tim Beckham's solo homerun in the top of the 10th was the deciding run... Matt Moore started but ran into trouble in the 4th. On the day(3.1 innings), he walked 5 batters, allowed 4 earned runs, and struck out 4... Tommy Rafferty got the win in relief. Zach Quate got the save, striking out all 3 batters he faced in the 10th... Matt Sweeney had 2 hits in 4 at-bats. He also drew a walk...The Leftovers: In 6 innings, Zach Quate has allowed 2 hits, walked none, and struck out 8... It's certainly not time to worry, but Moore hasn't been as flat-out dominating in three starts this season as he was at all last year...South Bend Silver Hawks 7, Bowling Green Hot Rods 1Box | RecapNotes: Bowling Green dropped to 3-10... Shane Dyer turned in a nice start: 6 innings, 5 hits, 3 runs(2 earned), no walks, and 8 strikeouts, but took the loss... Alex Koronis allowed 4 earned runs in 2 innings of relief... Dustin Biell homered for Bowling Green's only run... Chris Murrill went 2-4...The Leftovers: Where in the world is the offense for the Hot Rods?

I am afraid the answer to this question is we have no offense. That was the problem last year and this team has even less punch. Couple that with poor relief pitching and it looks like a loooong season.

Last year's offense SHOULD have been great. We thought we had sent you a really great team from the Hudson Valley....but it just didn't happen. Why? who knows. I agree with you about the relief pitching. Hang in there! Hopefully, things will get better for the Bowling Green Hot Rods soon.

I'd say Rodriguez has been the sharpest pitcher. 15/2 K/BB. He's been dominant since the first inning of the season. Dyer's results have been great, but I don't expect it to continue. Hope he proves me wrong.

I agree on Dyer, FreeZo. But with last night, he's been good. But he's the 5th best prospect of the starting 5 to me. After losing his spot to Andujar last season and his peripherals (except for last night, of course) this year, he's probably got a future in the pen. But who knows, maybe he's gotten it together/is healthy.

McEachern is the only starter who worries me based on his performance so far this season. Really hoped for better, Rodriguez is passing him on my list.

I'd love to hear more about the alleged bicep issue. McEachern is still young and skinny so we'll see what happens. Sometimes we root for these kids to move so quickly and they get ahead of themselves. I'm always guilty of it.

Ha, aren't we all. Don't know how reliable that was, but we tend to get some info ANON sometimes that proves to be true. TBR keeps injury info on minor leaguers tight, so no way of confirming. KG is a huge fan, so I hope McEachern turns it around.

Assuming you are who I think you are, and not the DSL Rays Manager seeking freedom, hope you are on the weekend podcast thingy. Would love to hear your opinions on the minors and prospects.

DEVIN FULLER and AARON DOTT- 2 good pitchers who had surprisingly been assigned to Extended. Many of us thought they would have been assigned to Bowling Green. Wonder if they will soon get that promotion.

I must say I really underrated WilKing coming in to this season. I know its still quite early in the season to all of a sudden jump on a young pitchers bandwagon but I am. Besides 1 start he has been one of the most dominate rays starters so far(Still early).And not only is Mceachern struggling but Lobstein has hit a bump too. And how has Moore looked?I know he is also off to a rough start, walking a lot of batters still. but also K'ing a good amount of batters too.Is his change looking any better?